Twisted Pain
by Karen Hikari
Summary: People in Auradon said that those who had encountered real pain were the strongest of people and maybe, just maybe, they were right when they affirmed that. At least the strongest of friendships were in fact established during hard times, and that they knew all too well.


**Well, I just published another Descendants story, so if you just go there and check my notes you'll know probably all you need to know about me writing Disney's fanfiction. If you don't want to do that, I'll write you a summary: I don't know why am I doing this, I swear to you I tried to stop myself, but my inner voices yelling 'Descendants fanfiction' were just getting too loud and so... I'm here.**

 **Midterms are coming, I should be studying and not posting out stories but... life happens. I'm not even sure about how this came by, but it did, and the plot was just tooo heartbreaking not to write down. It was probably after reading a story called "Family Means Your Problems Are Our Problems", specifically, in a chapter called "You're (We're) Not ALone Anymore" by minishadowsoul, from Archive O3 that this idea decided to appear, it's not even loosily based on her fic (although, and I'm honest, I did copy, more than used the same line for a dialogue), but I really enjoyed that story, and I believe she a) deserves the credit for giving me inspiration and b) you should totally pass by and read that thing.**

 **Anyways, that is pretty much all I can say about this story, you should expect more Descendants fanfiction soon, because, no matter how hard I try, I'm certain that I won't stop myself from giving into the fandom and I'll be here instead of studying.**

 **I really hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 ** _Twisted Pain_**

* * *

It was something around six o'clock in the afternoon when a knock at the door caused Mal to raise her eyes from the book she was trying to read. She shrugged; it was about time she stopped actually studying for her exam if she praised her reputation in something anyways. The daughter of Maleficent brought herself to her feet and stretched herself, but before she could reach the door, Evie had jumped from her sewing machine and was already opening it. Even as her friend attended, Mal still walked to the white door, staying behind Evie.

It was an unnecessary measure, really, but small actions like that had been adopted by the four of them after some weeks of living in Auradon. For example if one of them said that he was staying after class with a teacher, then the other three just so _happened to_ wait at the door; if one of them had problems with a subject, then the others _happened to_ be studying their notes besides him. And if it was late in the afternoon and Evie went to open the door, then Mal stayed behind her just in case that the one at the other side of the door was not someone that they'd like to welcome in their room.

Big was her surprise, however, when she reached the corridor and what she saw was no other than Carlos, who merely waited for the door to be opened and then entered the room, not directing a word or even a glance to Evie, let alone Mal as he stepped in, not seeming to notice either of the girls.

Now, Carlos going to their dorm wasn't something strange —ever since they had arrived to Auradon's Prep the four of them had acquired that type of relationship, and often let themselves drop by where they knew that the others would be, or even went straight to either of the rooms— however, it was strange that Jay didn't show up with Carlos, and it was even weirder was the attitude with which the son of Cruella had appeared.

Furrowing her brow, Mal met gazes with Evie, as she mouthed a «What's wrong?» in the exact moment that Carlos walked past her, ignoring her presence, but the blue-haired girl could only signal she didn't know either.

Sensing the unsaid trouble in the air —and especially aware that Carlos still felt wary around her— she started to find herself uneasy in her very own room. Shrugging, Mal locked gazes with her friend once more and nodded, knowing the other girl had perfectly understood what she wanted to say.

"I… am… study… exam" she said, confused, first by her own stuttering and then by the fact that neither Carlos nor Evie tried to correct her poor grammar. "Library" she finally murmured, already reaching for the doorknob Evie had just left alone. Only the daughter of the Evil Queen seemed to hear her, and even she only showed her recognition by slightly nodding, her eyes focused on Carlos.

Before the door was even completely closed, Evie had already turned on her heals, hoping to face Carlos, but she found that by the time she did that he had already crossed the room, his eyes fixed upon the ground and was now laying face-first on Evie's bed, not having uttered a word.

Slightly grimacing with worry, the girl walked up to her bed too and sat in the right corner of the mattress, absentmindedly letting her right hand fall over Carlos' hair.

"Are you planning to tell me what happened?" she inquired after a few silent second.

"Nothing happened" Carlos mumbled back, his voice almost lost because of the pillow he was laying against.

"Let me recall, you stumble into my dorm without saying a word and want me to believe that nothing happened?" she pressured; in response, Carlos tried to groan, but the sound he managed seemed more like a whimper to Evie.

The young girl caught her lower lip between her teeth in worry; she couldn't say that she was sure of what to do, but she felt that she shouldn't bring the matter up again. If Carlos wanted to let her know what had left him in such a state or if he thought that she could help him in some way, anything —and he must do it, because she had been the one to knock at her door after all— then he would eventually tell her. At least that was what she was trying to make herself believe.

Following her first instinct she decided to stay in silence, an expectant one, but not a pressuring one as she played with Carlos' hair patiently.

Only ten minutes later, the son of Cruella spoke again.

"Don't you… don't you… miss it?" he asked, his voice muffled by the covers.

"Miss it?" Evie replied, more confused than before. "Carlos, what are you talking about?"

"The pain? The blood? Evie, I-I'm sorry, but I—"

"Carlos, look at me" the girl cut him off, taking him by the chin and forcing him to raise his eyes. "What happened?"

The boy held her gaze for a second and bit his lip as if straining to not say anything; when he couldn't stand the eye-contact anymore, he turned his eyes to the mattress and inhaled deeply, struggling to find the words.

"I… remember when Mal and Jay were talking about signing together for Art class? And then you said that we should do the same for Cut and Confection?" he muttered, almost tripping over his own words. "Well, I tried to do it today, but Mrs. La Bouff refused to let me in saying that I would never be anything but my mother, that she wouldn't allow such an opportunity for the story to repeat itself and I—"

"Did she say that?" Evie interrupted him rather violently as she gestured to get up. "I can't believe it".

"Evie, sometimes I too think that" Carlos admitted, his words sending a chill down the girl's spine and freezing her movements in its tracks.

"What do you mean, Carlos?" Evie breath out, trying very hardly to keep her voice void of emotion, as all she could feel at the moment was horrified.

"I… she…" Carlos let out raggedly, his hands turning into fists around the covers of the bed. "Sometimes she would… she would hit me—my mother, I mean and…"

Evie was aware of that. Well, of course she was, and pretty much all the Isle, it was easy to see through the cracks and recognize the scars in Carlos' arms and sometimes even face, but in a place where nobody cared about others' business and where such a thing wasn't something out of the ordinary, nothing could be done. In Auradon, though…

"Carlos… I-I know" she let out. "But why would you…?"

"Let me finish, Eve, please" he said, almost pleading, which was already enough to make her bit the inside of her cheek and swallow every other thing that she would have said. "When she… when she did it" Carlos continued. "She'd always say that she was doing it for my own good, that it would make me better because I was totally useless and when—when she did I would think that maybe… that maybe she really cared about me. Not as much as she did her car or her furs, but… I… it was more than I could hope for from her and…"

"Carlos…" Evie started to say, but the boy didn't seem to notice her words.

"Ever since we arrived to Auradon, it hasn't happened, and I'm glad, but… I… the pain would let me know that I was important for her, that I meant something and now I… I'm afraid that I miss it. I miss the pain and the blood and the bleeding wounds and doesn't… doesn't that make me as bad as she? How twisted do you… How twisted do you have to be to miss something that hurts you?" he questioned, with tears he forced himself not to let go of burning in the back of his eyes, same that he slowly —and fearfully— raised to meet Evie's, a pleading expression set upon his features.

Evie grimaced slightly, and that simple gesture, that might have gone unnoticed by anyone else made Carlos start trembling. Of course she would be disgusted by him, he mentally scolded himself, breaking the eye-contact again. If only he had been a little more careful then maybe…

"It's not twisted" Evie murmured softly, her movements almost robotic, not because she didn't believe what she was saying, but because it hurt too much to even think of it. "It can't be twisted when pain is the only thing you've ever known".

Slowly, he raised his eyes once more, afraid that Evie would be looking down at him with repulsion, but when he finally dared look at her, he found her smiling almost with sadness, her arms open for him. Without having to second-think his decision, he found himself jumping into her lap and hiding his face in the crook between her neck and left shoulder. Evie simply let him do, running her long fingers through Carlos' hair fondly after she realized she couldn't find words to express the knot that had appeared in her chest.

"It's okay, Carlos. It's okay" she assured, almost mechanically, the words unknown in her tongue. "I promise you we'll find a way to fix it…" she cut herself up when she noticed the cold tears that had begun to wet her shoulder; her movements froze.

Something in that whole picture was wrong. They… they weren't supposed to cry or to love. She wasn't supposed to be so worried about someone else's well-being; she wasn't supposed to feel her throat tighten in concern or to find herself unable to properly speak because she was scared of not saying the right words. But then again, she wasn't supposed to find the 'right things to say' important in the least.

But… why was it that she did? Why was it that she cared, that she had felt her chest burn with rage when Carlos had mentioned the teacher's rude words and at Cruella's acting? And why, oh why was she struggling so much to let Carlos know that she cared in the first place?

Slowly, she renewed her caresses, letting her hand run through Carlos' hair and down to his back, in hopes to at least let him know that she was there, to not let him forget that he wasn't alone.

"It's over, Carlos" she finally said. "She won't do it ever again. I… I promise".

However, her words didn't seem to be the correct ones, as shortly after Carlos not only continued crying, but did it more strongly, violent shudders running down his spine with every intake of breath. Evie herself shivered in concern and caught her lower lip between her teeth.

Deciding that words only seemed to make the things much worse, she limited herself to continue holding her friend, rocking him gently.

It took a while longer than she would have liked until Carlos' breathing became less labored and more rhythmic. It wasn't that she was particularly concerned about the time or about the wet sleeves of the dress she was wearing, but worry seemed to be eating her alive each time Carlos trembled in her arms.

"You're gonna be fine" she finally dared to say, once she was sure that Carlos could hear her over his own sobs. "We're gonna be fine".

"I-Evie, Mal will be mad at me because I forced her to leave her room" Carlos said, once again surprising Evie with the sudden change of topic. "And Jay… I-I didn't clean the room this morning, he'll—"

"Carlos, what are you saying?" Evie cut him off.

It took the girl a second to realize what her friend was talking about. If Carlos was afraid of bothering Mal, that had really little to do with the girl herself, but more with the constant feeling of being a burden. If he was scared of maddening his roommate with something as dumb as a couple of items scattered around the floor, that again didn't mean that the former thief had given him any reasons to fear that reaction from him, but not so long ago Cruella had, and the shadows of their parents was something that they ended up finding in their way quite often.

"Jay doesn't care about the room, I promise" she murmured, for once sure of what she was meant to say. "And Mal is not mad either, I swear. And if she were, she'd have to deal with me" she challenged, smiling. That simple gesture, however innocent, sent a chill running down Carlos' back as he remembered the first time those two girls had encountered each other, the time they had started off as enemies instead of friends. "On the other side, it's not necessary to turn violent. Right, Mal, Jay? If you lean anymore on that door you'll make me believe that you're trying to break the poor thing!" she questioned, almost yelling. She felt Carlos stiffen in her arms and instantly regretted having raised her voice. Even when the boy knew that she wasn't yelling _at_ him, even when he knew that she wasn't mad, he couldn't help the unconscious actions in his body, and it was the very same pain of knowing that what made Evie tighten her hold around him protectively.

What stopped them from saying anything else was that the door in fact opened to let in the two former villains that had been missing in the room, Jay easily holding Dude in his left arm while Mal seemed to find the tips of her hair immensely interesting.

"It was Jay's idea" the daughter of Maleficent declared, taking a sit in the floor next to Evie's side of the bed.

"Lair" Jay tried to defend himself as he sat on the bed on Carlos' right side. As he did so, he let Dude on the mattress and the dog immediately jumped to Carlos' lap; the boy sighed in content, felling the well-known, almost comfortable warmth of the animal's tiny body. Absently, he scratched Dude's ears and raised his eyes just in time to see Mal sending a glare to Jay. "Okay, it was my idea" the former thief surrendered. "But I promise we weren't spying. It's just that Mal appeared in my dorm, threatened to break down the door—"

"And you decided to return the favor?" Evie mocked, but Jay continued, as if he hadn't noticed the interruption.

"So she appeared there and yelled at me that either I told her what had I done to Carlos or she'd tear me to pieces" Jay continued. "Then again, I had been looking for Carlos since lunch and knew nothing about him, so I just figured we deserved to know what was going on, right? Like, we didn't intend to eavesdrop".

"How much did you listen?" the princess questioned; Mal and Jay shared an awkward glare before the girl finally answered. When she did, though, her eyes were focused on Carlos' and not on Evie's.

"From Mrs. La Bouff's part" she replied. "We really hope you're not bothered by it".

"You had us all worried" Jay seconded her.

That was the moment Carlos broke the eye-contact, shrugging slightly in Evie's arms, his hands frozen on Dude's fur.

"I… Thank you" he whispered, almost too low for the others to listen, the words too unknown for him to allow him to let them out easily. "Thank you… for worrying".

His words set an expectant, almost uncomfortable silence among them, making both Mal and Jay turn to look at their hands self-consciously, although even Mal's green eyes had softened at the boy's words.

Curiously enough, it was Mal herself who broke the silence.

"Carlos" she called, not continuing until the boy's scared eyes were focused on hers. "I'm not mad at you, I wouldn't be just because you came here when you needed help. I too thought that Evie would be more useful than me when I saw the state you were in, and that's why I left. But I'm not mad" she repeated. "I was —we all were— worried about you, and that's it".

It was now Mal's turn to bite her inner cheek and hold her breath. Part of her still expected the Mistress of Evil to break through the window in her dragon form and roar at her for being so immensely touchy-feely and weak, even when she knew that such a thing wouldn't happen. More importantly, she knew that what she was saying was nothing but the truth. The words might have felt strange on her lips, unknown on her tongue, but even so, she knew they were sincere, and she also knew that from the three of them, she was the one that Carlos trusted the least —not that she could really blame him for it after all she'd done in the Isle—, and if only she could assure him that not even she was at ease while they knew that he was in pain, then that would make up for the unknown feeling that burned in her chest.

The son of Cruella nodded slowly, his eyes puffy and swollen, but he smiled.

"Thank you" he repeated, to what Mal could only smile herself. They were still learning she thought. Three months ago none of them had known the slightest thing about being concerned for someone that was not themselves or about affection, and it would be a matter of try and see what worked, what functioned. Until then, they'd have to manage with ragged words and often stutters.

"It'll be alright" Mal promised, already making plans to bang another door the next morning and fix that unfair mess.

"Don't you ever think that some from the Auradon people deserve the Isle more than the ones that are actually there?" Jay suddenly asked, his voice weirdly enough tainted with mockery.

"Jay, what are you saying?" Evie piped in. "Haven't you learned anything from here? You're not supposed to wish on others what you wouldn't wish upon yourself" she recited.

"Hey, I'm not saying that they should live with our parents, I'm just wondering how they'd manage a week in the Isle" the former thief protested. "Chad, for example".

"They wouldn't survive a week there, they'd be eaten alive" Mal affirmed, rolling her eyes. "And Chad would be the first one to die".

"Fair point" Jay nodded, smiling.

Finally surrendering to her friend's dirty game, Evie smiled as well.

"Bet those make fun of princesses can't live there without ruining their nail polish" she said.

"Of course, you mastered that art, didn't you?" Jay mocked.

"For you information, Jay, I did" Evie stated, showing of her long fingers and carefully painted blue nails just before the four of them burst in laughter.

When silence came back, it didn't seem forced or unnatural, but comfortable. They trusted each other, and that, among other things, meant that they didn't need to explain their words to the others, or even the lack of them.

After a while, it was the daughter of Maleficent who took the word again.

"Well" she said. "If that's all the emotional issues we signed-in for the day, I really have an exam tomorrow, so, if you'd excuse me…"

"An exam?" Jay exclaimed surprisedly. "Damn it! What class are you talking about?"

"Dumbass!" Mal reproved. "You don't even take Styling!"

"That's as far as his interest in school goes" Carlos pointed out, purposely ignoring the pained expression Jay send him.

"Betrayed! By my very own best friend! Backstabbed by my best friend, what god have I infuriated to deserve this?" he cried melodramatically, placing his left hand on top of his forehead.

"He'd succeed in Theatre, though" Evie offered.

"Anyways" the daughter of Maleficent said by the time their laughter had died off, leaning to her right side into Evie's mattress without standing up, instead of directing herself to her own bed. No one seemed to find her actions out of the ordinary. "Sweet nightmares".

The other three kept talking in a low voice for a little longer, until Jay was brought on the fact that Mal was shuddering slightly in her sleep. Without thinking, he took off his leather jacket and threw it over Mal, who wrapped herself with it. Again, no one cared to pinpoint the fact that they were in a bedroom after all, and that they only needed to walk to the other bed and get an extra blanket. It was not the action in itself what mattered, but the intention, and they knew that all too well.

"Well, even if I don't have a test tomorrow, I'm off too" Jay informed sometime after, deciding to take Carlos' right leg as a pillow because, well, he was the closest one to him. Ten minutes later, he was already snoring softly.

Still supporting his head on her left shoulder, Carlos' breathing made Evie realize that her friend had already fallen asleep. Only then did she dare to speak again, after an easy sigh.

"See?" she whispered drowsily. "It's alright. We'll fix it. We'll find a way to pull through it. That's what we always do" she assured before she, too, leaned her head on the headboard of the bed and tried to sleep.

Only when the rise and fall of Evie's chest slowed down did Carlos straighten back up and allowed himself to look at his friends once more

"That's what we do, isn't it?" he said into the darkness, though maybe Dude was still listening, if he wasn't sleeping as well. "We pull things together after they fall down".

And, slowly, he smiled, staring fondly at his friends, taking his time to notice how Evie's dark-blue curls gave the impression of having been carefully placed in the perfect spot to highlight her long neck and high cheekbones, although she literally had just laid down on them; on how Mal even seemed kind in her sleep; on how inexistent was Jay's inhibition when it came to physical touch.

And he smiled, because, no matter how twisted or utterly senseless it sounded, that was his family, those were the people he cared the most about, and weirdly enough, who cared the most about him. And, for the first time, this reassurance came in a smile and a warm feeling instead of a scream and the explosion of blood and pain.

It was then that he let go a sigh that he hadn't noticed he was holding. Slowly, as if not to bother his companions although they were all asleep, he leaned over to turn off the lamb that stood on Evie's bureau just before he reassumed his spot on the girl's shoulder. Finally, he allowed himself to drift off, a soft smile placed upon his lips.

—*—*—

Needless to say, of course, the first time Jay, Evie and Mal did the next morning was to bang at the Fairy Godmother's office and demand an explanation for Mrs. La Bouff's actions. And, needless to say too, the good woman had no idea of what the former villains were talking about.

When said teacher was called to declare what she'd done and said that yes, those had been her exact words, it was the Fairy Godmother herself who politely but only when she managed to pull herself out of her own indignation asked her to please take back her words and leave her obsolete ideas behind if she liked her job and wanted to continue accomplishing it.

Only when they realized that their own reaction towards the offense their friend had been a victim of had been very similar to that of the Fairy Godmother herself did they dwell on how far they'd gone from the children who had first arrived to Auradon, from the ones who wouldn't have stopped to think a second of someone else's suffering or even worse, from the ones who wouldn't have cared of being the cause of that suffering.

And maybe it was just a _cliché_ , but when the only thing everything in the Isle had ever caused then had been pain, it was easy to know which version of themselves did they like better.

People in Auradon said that those who had encountered real pain were the strongest of people and maybe, just maybe, they were right when they affirmed that. At least the strongest of friendships were in fact established during hard times, and that they knew all too well.

* * *

 **Well, for all of you lovely people who've known me fro a longer time (and for something other than Descendants), I dunno, you area all aware that I have _something_ for Hurt/Comfort and Angst and these four... I just couldn't stop myself. I think that the book didn't go quite as deep as I wanted it to go (it's a children's book, you dumbass!), but the movie... I believe that Cameron Boyce and Booboo Stewart did an awesome job, just as much as the girls did. I mean, you have these movements that seem so... unconscious that it's amazing that they had to consciously do them! The flinches, the blushes, the fearful gazes, the shudders... Well, I just think that this movie has a lot more than just the songs (which I obviously loved).**

 **I hope you like this, and please voice your opinions in the comment box, I'm eager to read what you have to say about th emovie, or the book or anything!**


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